Michael Keisari

Michael Keisari was born in 1950

Michael Keisari was born in 1950 to Holocaust survivor parents who came to Israel from Czechoslovakia. The family lived in Kfar Yehezkel and then at Kibbutz Degania Alef. In fifth grade he moved with them to Haifa.

He studied at the Ramot school in Ramat Shaul. In ninth grade he moved to the naval officers school in Acre, where he studied marine mechanics. He later studied at Bar-Ilan University, including a master's degree.

He joined the IDF in 1968 and completed the navy's naval officers course. He served in the submarine flotilla, commanded the submarine INS Gal and the missile boat Moledet, and led the flotilla from 1983 to 1987. He fought in the Yom Kippur War and the First Lebanon War.

After a loan to Israel Aerospace Industries, he moved to Hamburg to manage the building of the Dolphin-class submarines. He returned to Israel in 1996 and left the IDF a year later. He then became director of the Tel Aviv University school for practical engineers.

In the reserves he joined the search team for the submarine INS Dakar. He is married to Rivka, has a daughter and a son, and lives in Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut.